The Last Night
by hermitstull
Summary: What would you do when faced with the last few hours left on Earth? Totally AU. Implied Rizzles  if you look hard enough


If you squint hard enough you might catch just a glimpse of a little AU action in this tale.

I blame too much free time at work and Hot Chip on repeat.

_The Last Night_

It had taken all that she had to get out of the city. Her savings had gone first (as if money held any meaning any more). Then some of her supplies, then part of herself as she left a tangled mess on the off ramp when she escaped the last open interstate.

It didn't matter though, none of it, given what little time she had left on this Earth. What anyone had really, so why were people still being so cruel, so ignorant, so afraid to face what was about to happen?

Hell, at least we got some notice. That's more than the dinosaurs got.

Closing her eyes for a moment she simply enjoyed the wind in her hair which had become almost unmanageable by social standards. Whatever those were anymore. Opening her eyes she caught a glimpse of something shiny further down the road.

"Shit," she murmured. It was crunch time, with only a few hours left before the end and she wasn't where she needed to be. Hopefully whatever was in the road was easily avoidable or already dead. So many of the cars she'd siphoned gas from in the last few days held what was left of their former owners. She'd stopped searching for anything useful in the abadoned vehicles as the day of days had drawn closer, now all that mattered was gas for her own. A truck which she had stolen from a stranger outside of Oklahoma City.

Slowing the truck to a stop she looked at the Nissan blocking the two lane road. By the looks of it someone had pulled it right off the lot and dumped it here. No plates, very little damage, no movement from inside.

"I so don't have time for this bullshit," she said, grabbing her shotgun from the passenger's seat. She turned off the truck, silencing the Hot Chip CD that had become her constant companion. The one thing that would pull her back to a time and place before.

"Stop it," she said closing her eyes briefly and gritting her teeth, willing herself not to get sucked into memories of the past. The only thing that now mattered was surviving this moment so she could get home for the end.

Using a voice she almost didn't recognize she called out to the area, letting her presence be known. She had stopped offering assistance long ago, but if asked she usually still lent a hand. Old habits or something.

After what felt like a reasonable amount of time she slowly approached the vehicle and called out again, her eyes scanning the area for movement. She hoped that whoever had blocked the road was long gone. Or had decided that picking a fight at this late hour wasn't worth it.

After another scan of the area around the car, she approached, tightening the grip on her gun.

"Hello," she called softly. Looking for movement inside of the vehicle.

She heard the sound before she felt the blow. A soft swoosh of an inanimate object travelling quickly through the air near her.

How I could have missed it, she thought as the object slammed into her the back of her leg, just above her knee. Whipping around as she fell, she pulled the trigger in the hopes of hitting her attacker.

Unfortunately she missed by a mile and another blow landed. This time it brought blackness.

An unknown amount of time passed before she woke again. It was dark, the moon was out and the stars blazed across the night sky brighter than they ever did in the city. There was a gentle breeze that brought the smell of fresh spring grass and something floral with it. In another life she might even consider this a romantic setting.

But the pain of reality slammed home with every pulse of her head. Sitting up from the concrete slowly, she gingerly reached for the source of her pain. The blood felt mostly dry, which was a good signshe thought. Probably some sort of concussion.

After taking a couple of steadying breaths, she stood and looked around. Sadly she noted her truck was gone, as was the Nissan blocking the road. Really, this is how you want to spend your last night? In a stolen vehicle. Way to stay classy she murmured, closing her eyes to fight off a wave of nausea.

She knew getting home had been a long shot at best, but it had given her the fuel needed to get out of the city and away from the suffering. She had sworn years ago to do no harm but that was before. Now it was about what she wanted, what she needed.

Part of her wished she would have realized it sooner than two weeks ago.

She looked down the road in both directions and after a moment's deliberation, decided to continue forward. She might not make it to her ultimate destination, but she would give it her best effort.

Literally die trying.

After what felt like hours of shuffling along she had to stop. The moon was still there but it was starting to make its descent in preparation for the dawn. If she listened hard enough she could almost hear the cries coming from the east, from across the ocean even where dawn was breaking for the last and fatal time.

Sitting down in the middle of the road she could feel things swirling around her. Was it the concussion she was now sure she had or was it the end, coming early? Hard to tell.

Absently she reached into her shirt pocket, looking for something to dry the sudden wetness on her cheeks when she felt it. Surprised by the discovery, her hand froze momentarily, then she smiled.

"I'd thought I'd lost you," she said looking down at the small device. Tapping the button on the bottom, the device sprung to life, providing artificial light to the growing darkness. Spinning the dial quickly she cued up what had been keeping her company, her sane really, over the last week.

She shut her eyes and pressed play as the world swayed around her, the tiny speakers almost inaudible. Summoning all of her concentration she focused on the music and it began to drown out the noise, fading everything but her favorite song into the background.

She let the song play, singing along softly to the lyrics she'd memorized, pushing down all of the pain and sorrow, letting the world fall away.

When the song finished the pain was gone and she opened her eyes, looking into the deep brown ones of the person before her.

"Welcome home."

She smiled.


End file.
